In-Person Fireside Chat with "The Real Estate Icon", Stephen Siegal, Chairman of CBRE

In his role as CBRE’s Chairman of Global Brokerage, Stephen Siegel advises major corporations and property owners on a broad range of real estate strategies. Widely regarded as one of the industry’s most talented and prolific professionals, he has been called by the media “a powerhouse,” “an icon,” “a game changer” and “the most legendary and revered broker still plying the trade in NY.”

Prior to the merger with CBRE, as Chairman and CEO of Insignia/ESG, Mr. Siegel was largely responsible for masterminding the firm’s expansion nationwide as well as throughout EMEA and the Americas. He also managed a group that completed approximately $2 billion in co-investments in a wide range of U.S. real estate portfolios across property types. Mr. Siegel initially rose to prominence in the industry at Cushman & Wakefield, where he became President and CEO at age 37.

Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Siegel has arranged multimillion-dollar transactions for some of the nation’s most prominent corporations. Mr. Siegel has represented the State of New York for seven years completing millions of square feet of leases. He represented Hudson’s Bay Company in the consolidation and relocation of its U.S. headquarters into 410,000 sq.-ft. at Brookfield Place, L’Oréal on its 407,000 sq.-ft. headquarters relocation to the Related Company’s 10 Hudson Yards, Estee Lauder into 400,000 sq.-ft. at the GM building, the Apollo Corporation into 385,000 sq.-ft. at 9 West 57th and Fried Frank into 400,000 sq.-ft. at 1 NY Plaza.

Mr. Siegel negotiated Gucci Group’s lease at Trump Tower, a transaction recognized by REBNY as 2006’s Most Creative Retail Deal of the Year. He advised Hudson Waterfront Associates on the acquisition of 1290 Avenue of the Americas for $1.25 billion, re-selling it one year later to Vornado Realty Trust. He arranged the $306 million sale of a parcel at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, the last developable site within the 42nd Street Development Project, to SJP Properties. SJP constructed Eleven Times Square, a one-million-sq.-ft. office property, on the site.

Renowned for his philanthropy, Mr. Siegel has been called by The Wall Street Journal “the most generous person in the industry.” He sits on numerous nonprofit boards. He was endowed a fellowship at the Cardozo School of Law. He received honorary doctorates from Baruch College, Yeshiva University, Monmoth University and St. Thomas Aquinas College. He has been honored by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, The Lower East Side Tenement Museum and Israel Bonds. He was also celebrated for his contributions to the Young Women’s Leadership Network’s CollegeBound Initiative along with fellow honorees Queen Latifah and Danny Meyer.

Frequently quoted in major newspapers, Mr. Siegel has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, LEADERS Magazine, the Real Deal and recently presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who’s Who for his accomplishments and prominence in his profession. He is regularly among the Commercial Observer’s Power 100 and was named by Crain’s as one of the 100 Most Influential Business Leaders in New York City. He was featured in the Urban Land Institute’s Leadership Legacies and the best-selling Commercial Real Estate Brokers Who Dominate. He has been honored with Commercial Property News’ Lifetime Achievement Award and has received prestigious industry awards from REBNY and New York University’s Real Estate Institute.

Jonathan Mechanic is chairman of Fried Frank’s Real Estate Department and a member of the firm’s Governance Committee. Prior to joining Fried Frank as a partner, he was general counsel and a managing director of HRO International, a real estate development organization responsible for developing more than 2.5 million square feet of office space in Manhattan.

Jon routinely counsels developers, owners, investors, REITs, and lenders in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions. Notably, he represents JP Morgan in connection with its redevelopment of 270 Park Avenue into a new 2.5 million-square-foot headquarters building and Citadel on its master leases of 350 Park Avenue and 40 East 52nd Street as well as on the joint venture with Vornado and Rudin Management to develop a new 1.7 million-square-foot headquarters building on the 350 Park/40 East 52nd Street site where they will lease approximately 850,000 square feet with contraction and expansion rights. Jon has led joint ventures for Park Tower with Brookfield and with Rockefeller Center Development Group on the five multifamily projects that have been constructed or, in the case of Rockefeller Center Development Group, are being constructed in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn. He represented CW Capital Asset Management in its sale of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village to Blackstone Group and Ivanhoé Cambridge. Jon also represents landlords and tenants in commercial leasing and ground lease transactions, including his recent representations of MCR Hotels in its ground lease of the legendary Gramercy Park Hotel; Citigroup in its long-term lease of its global headquarters at 388-390 Greenwich Street and the exercise of its option to purchase the building; Coach in the sale-leaseback of its global headquarters at 10 Hudson Yards; Ernst & Young in its more than 600,000-square-foot lease for its new headquarters at One Manhattan West; Shiseido in its 225,000-square-foot lease at 390 Madison Avenue for its US headquarters; and JP Morgan in its 437,000-square-foot-lease at 390 Madison Avenue.

Jon has taught the real estate transactions course at Harvard Law School for more than ten years. He also lectures regularly for NYU Law School, Columbia Law School, the Real Estate Board of New York and the Practising Law Institute, and is a co-author of The Commercial Office Lease Handbook published by the American Bar Association.

Jon was recently selected to receive REBNY’s annual Bernard H. Mendik Lifetime Leadership Award, the first for a practicing attorney, for his exceptional service to the real estate industry and professional accomplishments within his distinguished career. In 2024, he was awarded the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)’s 2024 Burton P. Resnick and Leonard Litwin Legacy Award for his commitment to strengthening the organization’s efforts to secure justice and fair treatment for all. In 2023, Jon was awarded the New York Law Journal Lifetime Achievement Award and profiled for his outstanding contributions by the Financial Times. He was awarded the 2016 Distinguished Alumnus Award from New York University and the 2016 Chambers USA Outstanding Contribution to the Legal Profession Award. For a decade, Jon has been recognized by Chambers USA as a “Star Individual” in real estate. He is consistently included on Commercial Observer’s “Power 100” list of the most powerful people in New York real estate and was the only practicing attorney to make the list in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. In 2019, Jon was joined by land use partner Melanie Meyers as the only two practicing attorneys on the list and in 2020 he was one of three practicing attorneys recognized. In 2021 and 2022, Jon was recognized by City & State New York in its “Real Estate Power 100” list and its "Law Power 100" list. In addition, he was named “MVP Lawyer of the Year” by Law360 in 2019, 2013, and 2011. Fried Frank’s Real Estate Department has been recognized as Law360’s Real Estate Group of the Year and was recognized by Chambers USA as the 2019 Real Estate Law Firm of the Year and was awarded the 2018 Real Estate Client Service Award and the 2009 Award for Excellence in Real Estate.

Jon is a member of the Executive Committee, Board of Governors for the Real Estate Board of New York and the Board of Trustees of NYU Law School. He is also Chairman of the Advisory Board of the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, a member of the Advisory Board of the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate, a member of the Industrial Advisory Board for the Columbia University Center for Urban Real Estate, and a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.